DES MOINES, Iowa – The Tri-City Storm exit the two-week USHL holiday break with a Saturday night matchup at the Des Moines Buccaneers. Puckdrop inside the MidAmerican Energy Company RecPlex is set for 7:05 pm CT. 

Fans can watch the contest on FloHockey and listen on Storm Radio. 

Tri-City (11-15-4, 26 pts, 5th place Western Conf.) 

Previously:

• Swept Muskegon at home across Friday, December 12 (4-0) and Saturday, December 13 (3-0)

• December 13: Ashton Dahms registered natural hat trick with a goal in each period; was first hat trick of his career

• December 13: Netminder Michal Pradel notched second consecutive shutout and third of the season; Slovakia native's three shutouts now tie for the league lead

Team Notes:

• Won three consecutive games for first time since October 25-31

• Last time recording consecutive shutouts: November 11 (1-0 win vs. Waterloo) and November 17, 2017 (4-0 win vs. Des Moines)

• 4-1-4 in one-goal games this season but 1-4-0 in two-goal games

• Penalty kill (85.1%) ranks first in USHL

• Averaging 11.07 penalty minutes per game, third-least among USHL teams

• Despite putting up 12 goals over past three games, scoring offense ranks last (2.20 goals for/game) among USHL teams

• Begin stretch of five consecutive road games tonight (eight of next ten contests will be away from Viaero Center)

• Played 30 games this year, tied for most among USHL teams (Omaha)

Player Notes: 

• Brecken Smith: has produced five points (1-4-5) over his past three games; recorded pair of multi-assist appearances, going 0-2-2 each night against Muskegon across December 12 and 13

• Mason Jenson: has put up three points (1-2-3) over his past three games

• Michal Pradel: first among all USHL goaltenders in saves (567), tied for first in shutouts (3), second in minutes (1270), third in save percentage (.916), seventh in goals against average (2.46)

• Bode Laylin: three goals tie for fifth among USHL defenseman, three power play goals tie for second among defenseman

• Maddox Malmquist: ties for second among USHL rookies in game-winning goals (2)

• Oliver Ozogany: 55 shots place fourth among USHL rookies

• Carson Pilgrim (7-8-15) leads team in scoring followed by Bode Laylin (3-11-14); the duo took home gold with Team USA at the 2025 World Junior A Challenge in Quebec, claiming victory in the gold medal game on Saturday, December 13 versus Canada West (5-1 USA win)

Des Moines (9-11-6, 24 pts, 6th place Western Conf.) 

• Winless in seven of past eight games

• Defeated Waterloo 4-0 at home on Saturday, December 13, fell to Sioux City 4-3 on road Friday, December 12

• December 13: Michael Sandruck, Riley Zupfer, Ryland Randle, Adam Zidlicky tallied goals

• December 13: Netminder Max Weilandt recorded second shutout of season, stopping each of the 17 Black Hawk shots he faced

• Ryan Seelinger (13-15-28) leads team in scoring, Riley Zupfer (6-11-17) follows

Season series: Saturday is the fourth of six regular season meetings between Tri-City and Des Moines. The teams last met on Saturday, November 1 (3-2 Buccaneer shootout win) in Des Moines. The Buccaneers have taken each of the previous three meetings this year.